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Aussies land favourable Games judo draw

Nathan Paull

Australia's judo athletes will enjoy a favourable Commonwealth Games draw thanks to a skewed world ranking system.

The draw, which seeds the top four ranked judoka, has given many of the Australians a bye in the first round, meaning they have a free ticket straight to the quarter-finals in the knockout tournament starting in Glasgow on Thursday.

The International Judo Federation's ranking system heavily relies on continental tournaments and awards equal points to each of the competitions.

It means an Oceanic champion would likely rank higher than someone who places well, but doesn't win, in the far more difficult and competitive European championships.

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For instance, 17-year-old Chloe Rayner has little international experience, but will first meet Zambia's unranked Abigail Chindele in the quarter-finals thanks to her world No.21 ranking in the 48kg class.

Medal hopeful Duke Didier will also avoid home favourite Euan Burton - Scotland's flag bearer - until potentially the 100kg gold medal bout given he is ranked four places higher at 43.

Australia's best medal hope, 90kg division judoka Mark Anthony, is ranked higher than his main challenger, Scotland's Matthew Purssey, but is drawn to meet the crowd favourite in the semi-finals if both fighters progress.

However, Anthony, buoyed by his seventh placing at the 2012 London Olympics, says he isn't concerned about who he comes up against.

"There should be some winnable fights in the first few rounds," he told AAP.

Coach Dennis Iverson said his squad, who endured an intense training camp against world and Olympic champions in Spain before the Games, would be ready to face whoever they were drawn against.

Tom Pappas (60kg), Steven Brown (66kg), Rayner, Amy Meyer (48kg) and Hannah Trotter (52kg) will all represent Australia on the first day of judo competition.

WAYS TO WIN IN COMMONWEALTH GAMES JUDO:

* Ippon (full point) - a judoka will win if they score an ippon by throwing an opponent forcefully onto their back, maintaining a pin for 25 seconds or applying an effective armbar/stranglehold

* Waza-ari (Half point) - a judoka will win if they score two waza-ari, which are awarded for a throwing technique unworthy of an ippon (ie. insufficient force), holding a pin for 20 seconds or if the opponent violates the rules three times

* Yuko (almost waza-ari) - awarded for techniques unworthy of waza-ari, these only come into play if the match is tied. ie. one waza-ari is rated higher than any number of yuko scores.

* Hansuko-make - a disqualification for severely violating the rules, which gives victory to the opponent.